Electrically operated regulator



Oct. 17, w E P r AL ELECTRI CALLY OPERATED REGULATOR Filed Jan. 13, 1932 Inventors W. Kemp 8zl%terman I; I 1 l Att'y.

Patented Oct. 17, 1933 "Y;UNITEDISTKTES Mo., assignors to Defender, Automatic .Regug lator Company,-St. Louis, Mo'., a ,corporation of Missouri I Application January 13, 1932.SerialNo,586,3

e sgciaims, (01. 172-239) Our invention relates to an electrically op erated regulator such as is radapted to open and close a damper, valve, or other control de vice to regulate pressure, temperature or the like. .1 I-

One object of our invention is to so construct a regulator, of the class referred to, that the operation of the control devicev will take place in a series of distinct steps, and further, to provide means for the lapse of a predetermined minimum of time between steps, which minimum may, however, be varied by suitable, adjusting means to comply with the requirements of the particular apparatus to be regulated.

Another object of our invention is to provide an auxiliary circuit breaker, whereby injuryto the contact points of the reversing switch by sparking or farcing, is avoided,. and to further protectthe reversing switchpoints by providing holding magnets to. prevent vibrationof the moving parts of the switch'.., f I In'the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one form of'regulator made' in accordance with our invention, Figure 1 a side elevation; Figure 2 ,is' an enlarged section of't he time control device; and Figure 3 is a' wiring diagram} I The parts of the device are carried ona supporting plate 1 adapted to bemountedin vertical position on'a wallor the'like. A motor2 drives, through the medium of reducing; gearing 3,'a large gear wheel im'ounted on a' rock shaft 5. One .end of, this shaft is connected with the damper, valve, or other' control :means (not shown) of the apparatusIto beregulated; The shaft and"whee1 ha v,e a. maximum. movement of 90 degrees, 'l'Mounted 'on the" gear "wheel f 4 by a pair of oppositely disposed serewsreis a control member 7 in the form of an annulus or ring The periphery .off thisring is dividedby deep or safetyv notches 8 into quadrants ",A, ,B{, C, am n; The quadrants have formed in them shallow notches 9 the number'of which in aquadrant determines; thefnumber of steps required to movefthecontrol mechanismjfrom one extreme position to the other when that segment is in operative position. To allow "any of the four quadrants to be brought inte operative position we form, midway betweenthe opening in which'the screws dare'positioned, a'secnd pair of screw holes '10.: In Figure 1 the ring is shown in the position tobring the quadrant zfB into operative position} Inthe. drawing we have shown quadrant A provided with four notches 9, quadrant ,B f with eight, and a ra wi h six s lled ee i being left unnotched or blank. It willbe understood, however, that the number of notches usedis purely arbitrary and may be varied as desired;

Engaging with the notches in the control ring is a roller 11 carried on an arm 12'pivoted 8.0, at 13 to a lever 14 fulcrumed at 15 andfc'ar'ry ing a "contact 16. The arm '12 has a limited movement on its pivot" in order to impart a quick orcsnap movement to the contact as the roller enters and leaves the notches of the control I ring. A spring 17 tends to move the arm to-v ward the ring; The contact 16 cooperates with a contact 18Zcarried by a U-shaped frame 19; This frame is mounted on a threaded rod 20 emgaging with the threaded interior of a tube 21 having on its upper end aknurled head 22 and on its lower end a piston 23 fitting in a dash'po't cylinder 24. The tube 21 slides in a central openingin'the cover 25 of the dash pot and is biased, to move downwardly by a coil spring 15 26 interposed between the cover. and the piston; Situated .below the piston isa disk 27 slidingly mounted 'on the lower end of the rod '20, The upper, movement of'this plate on the rod is limited by a collar 28' fixed upon the 'rod' b'ut it so may move downwardly on the rodagainst the pressure of a coil spring 29. The object of the disk 27 is'to retard the downward movement of the, piston in the cylinder by. limiting the flow of the liquid such for example, as oil with 5 which the cylinder is ,filled,"jthrough-ports 3Q in, the, piston. "gThe amount ofre'tardatio'n will dependupon' the distance whichthe lower face" a: the cbllarjZll projectsbelow the lower face I of the pistoni,23. This maybevaried by-rotating the 'knurledhead 22 so that the speed'at whichflth piston descends may beadjusted to r any desiredratel During the upwardmovement of the piston the diskis tree to moveawayIrom' it against Y the pressure of spring "291 upward movement isunretardedfi d The, motor "2 ji's l'QVBlSiblijO' drive'the gear wheel .4 in either direction. In the l Iorin of "de= vice shown, we accomplish this resultby using the "type. of motor having a mainifleld, windingloo 31 andtwo 'sidewindin'gs 32and 33. ,'Ihe"cu ri rent'is lead through the m'ainwindingand one of the side windings toT drive the motorinjone direction and through the main winding and the other side wnding. to driveit in thevo ppo'site'dlrecton. The, main winding is connected "to one side 34 'of the supply line, the other side 35being connected to the contact, 16. The side winding s l hl t h 5 .32 is connected by aline 36, including a holding m gne s i h, aire me??? "P ase winding 33 is connected by a line 39, including a holding magnet 40, to a fixed contact 41. Positioned between the contacts 38 and 41 is an arm 42 which functions both asa movable contact and as an armature for the holding magnets. This arm is moved toward one or the other of the contacts 38 and 41 by changes in temperature, pressure, or other condition to be regulated, and is connected by line with the contact 18. In the form of device shown, which is adapted for pressure regulation, the arm is car.- ried on one end of a Bourdon gauge 43, the other end of which is attached to a hollow post 44. The fluid, the pressure of which is to be regulated, is delivered to the post and thence to the gauge through a tube 45. The post is capable of rocking movement and carries an arm 46, the end of which is attached to a threaded rod 47 engaged by a nut 48, by the rotation of which the post may be moved to adjust the gauge. A dash. pot 49 of any usual construction may be attached to the arm 42' to dampen its movement.

Carried by the shaft 5 is an arm 51 connected by a link 52 to a lever 53 pivoted at 54 and provided with a pair of adjustable stops 59 adapted to contact with a block of insulating material 56 on the arm 4-2. The lever 53 is connected by a coil spring 57 with the gauge 43, the point of attachment of the spring to the lever being adjustable by means of a nut 58 threaded on the lever.

The operation of our regulator is as follows: Assuming the pressure to be normal, the parts will be in the position shown in Figure 1, the

v be supplied to the motor.

3 actuate the motor in the direction to drive gear wheel 4 in the direction indcated by the arrow in Figure 1. As the current passes through the holding magnet 40, the arm 42, acting as an armature for the magnet, will be held in position against the contact 41 to prevent vibration of the arm with consequent interruption of current and sparking, or arcing, at the contacts. Assoon as the wheel 4 moves, it will force the arm 12, downwardly, swinging the lever 14 on its fulcrum and raising the contact 16 and with it, the contact 18 and attached parts. These par-ts are capable of rapid movement in an upward direction, as has been heretofore set forth. When the next notch 9 reaches the roller 11, the roller will be forced into. it by the action of spring 17 lowering the contact 16 by a rapid or snap movement. As the movement of the contact18v is retarded by the time control device, the circuit will be broken between contacts 16 v and 18 and the motor stopped. A certain interval of time, depending upon the adjustment of the disk 2'7 with respect to the piston, will intervane before the contact 18 is brought against the c0ntact'16 by the action of the spring 26. This a interval is to allow time'for the action of the valve, damper, or the like to reduce the pressure. If the pressure is sumciently reduced whenthe contacts 16 and 18 are brought together, the arm 42 will be returned to the position shown in Figure 3 by the gauge so that the parts will remain in this position until further change in the pressure. In the event the pressure has not been sufliciently reduced, the arm will remain against the contact 41 and the apparatus will be moved another step to further close the valve or damper. These steps will be continued until the pressure is reduced to the desired amount, or until the end of the movement of the control device is reached. When the limit of the control movement in the direction indicated is reached, the upper end of the lever 53 will be moved so far toward the right hand side that the upper stop 59 prevents the arm 42 from engaging the contact 41 so that the motor cannot be further operated in this direction. When the limit of movement in the other direction is reached, the lower stop 59 performs the same function, preventing the arm 42 from engaging the contact 38. If, for any reason, such as wear or improper adjustment, the stops 59 fail to perform their proper function, the safety notches 8 provide a further means for preventing overrunning of the device. These notches are deeper than the notches 9 and when the roller enters one of them, the contact 16 is allowed to drop so far that it will not be engaged by the contact 18 when the latter is in the lowest position. Consequently, the motor circuit will remain interrupted and the device will not resume automatic operation until the wheel 4 is positioned manually so that the roller 11 will engage with an intermediate portion of the quadrant. It will be noted that the gauge 43 moves the same distance to close the circuit at each step. In order, therefore, that it may properly function, tension must be added to the gauge as the device moves in one direction, and subtracted from it as it moves in'the other direction. This is accomplished by the spring 57, the tension of which varies with the movement of the lever 53. The rate at which this variation takes place may be adjusted to the proper amount to meet the requirement of the case by adjusting the nut 58 toward or away from the pivot point 54 of the lever. In case the pressure falls below normal, the same step or series of steps takes place, except that the arm 42 engages the contact 38 leading the current through the main field winding 31 and side winding 32 to drive the motor in the opposite direction.

It will be seen that with our regulator, the opening and closing of the damper or other control device, is accomplished in, a series of timed steps, both the duration and number of which may be variedto suit the requirements of the case. Further, the breaking of the motor circuit takes place between the auxiliary contacts 16 and 18 and not between the points of the main or control switch and, consequently, these points are not subjected to the surge of current occurring when the currentis interrupted. The holding magnets 37 and .40 prevent vibration of the arm 42 while the motor is running. The arrangement of the circuits is, however, such that the magnets'do notinfluence either the opening or closing of the circuit through the reversing switch and hence do not interfere with the functions 01' the gauge.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device of the class described, an electric motor, a control actuating member driven thereby, a reversing switch for said motor ineluding a magnetfor holding" the movable member of the reversing switch while the motor is I!) running, said reversing switch being, actuated by an element responsive to the condition of the apparatus to be controlled, an auxiliary switch operated from said control actuating member for opening the motor circuit, and means operated from said control actuating member when it has reached the limit of its travel for pre-c venting the operation of said reversing switch in one direction,

2. In a device of the class described, an electric motor, a rotarymember drivenby said motor,

and provided with a plurality of cam faces, a reversing switchfor said motor, a magnet included in the motor circuit for holding the movable member of the reversing switch, a pressure actuated element for operating said reversing switch, a spring connected to said pressure responsive element, means for varying the tension of said spring with the movement of said rotary member, an auxiliary switch in the motor circuit operated from the cam faces of said rotary member and timing mechanism for closing said auxiliary switch.

3. In a device of the class described, an electric motor, a rotary member driven by said motor and provided with a plurality'of cam faces, a reversing switch for said motor, a magnet included in the motor circuit for holding the movable member of the reversing switch, a pressure actuated element for operating said reversing switch, a spring connected to said presure responsive element, means for varying the ten sion of said spring with the movement of said rotary member, an auxiliary switch in the motor circuit operated from the'cam faces of said rotary member, and variable retarding means for closing said auxiliary switchafter a predetermined period of time. I r

4. In a device of the class described, an electric motor, a rotary member driven from'said motor and provided with a series of spaced notches, a reversing switch for the motor, a pressure gauge for controlling said reversing switch,

I an auxiliary switch in the motorcircuit, a dog cooperating with successive notches in said rotary member to open said auxiliary switch, and

retarding means for closing said auxiliary switch.

5. Ina device of the class described, an electric motor, a rotary member driven from said motor and provided with a series of operating notches and with safety notches, a reversing switch for the motor, a pressure gauge for controlling said reversing switch, an auxiliary switch in the motorcircuit, a dog cooperating" with successive notches in said rotary member to open 7 said auxiliary'switch, and retarding means for closing said auxiliary switch, said means being inoperative to close the switch when the dog engages with a safety notch.

6. In a device of the class described, an electric motor, an annular memberdriven from said motor and adapted to oscillate through a limited arc, a plurality of series of notches in said annular member, means for shifting said annular member to bring a predetermined series of notches into operative position, a reversing switch for the motor, a pressure gauge for controlling said reversing switch, an auxiliary switch in the motor circuit, a dogcooperating with successive notches in said rotary member to open said cam faces, and connections between said member and gauge for varying the pressure at which the latter operates the reversing switch.

8. In a device of the class described, an electric motor, a member driven from said motor and q provided with a plurality of cam faces, a reversing switch for the motor, a Bourdon gauge controlling said reversing switch, an auxiliary switch in the motor circuit intermittently actuated by said cam faces, a pivoted arm moved by said member, a spring connection between said arm and the gauge, and stops carried by said arm for preventing theclosing of the reversing switch when the arm is in either extreme position.

- KEMP.

MILTON OSTERMAN. 

